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fixed wording
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user5714
user5714

I'm writing up something in Chinese, and want to write the following (irrelevant information redacted):

Do I need to bring XXX? [...] Or I can just bring a photocopy of it?

I'm completely not completely sure what the correct form of "or" is here. It's clear that if this were Cantonese, I would use "定係", but this isn't a word in Mandarin, and at least intuitively speaking, I wouldn't use "或者" (at least not without a lot of rephrasing).

Would using "还是" be appropriate (in conveying the same meaning) here?

Translation, with what I believe to be correct.

我需要带 XXX 吗？[...] 还是只要带影印本吗？

But using "还是" at the beginning of the sentence feels slightly awkward, if only since the examples I'd been taught in school involved use of it to express a different option within the same sentence, instead of breaking the options up.

I'm writing up something in Chinese, and want to write the following (irrelevant information redacted):

Do I need to bring XXX? [...] Or I can just bring a photocopy of it?

I'm completely not sure what the correct form of "or" is here. It's clear that if this were Cantonese, I would use "定係", but this isn't a word in Mandarin, and at least intuitively speaking, I wouldn't use "或者" (at least not without a lot of rephrasing).

Would using "还是" be appropriate (in conveying the same meaning) here?

Translation, with what I believe to be correct.

我需要带 XXX 吗？[...] 还是只要带影印本吗？

But using "还是" at the beginning of the sentence feels slightly awkward, if only since the examples I'd been taught in school involved use of it to express a different option within the same sentence, instead of breaking the options up.

I'm writing up something in Chinese, and want to write the following (irrelevant information redacted):

Do I need to bring XXX? [...] Or I can just bring a photocopy of it?

I'm not completely sure what the correct form of "or" is here. It's clear that if this were Cantonese, I would use "定係", but this isn't a word in Mandarin, and at least intuitively speaking, I wouldn't use "或者" (at least not without a lot of rephrasing).

Would using "还是" be appropriate (in conveying the same meaning) here?

Translation, with what I believe to be correct.

我需要带 XXX 吗？[...] 还是只要带影印本吗？

But using "还是" at the beginning of the sentence feels slightly awkward, if only since the examples I'd been taught in school involved use of it to express a different option within the same sentence, instead of breaking the options up.

Source Link
user5714
user5714

What's the Mandarin equivalent of "定係"?

I'm writing up something in Chinese, and want to write the following (irrelevant information redacted):

Do I need to bring XXX? [...] Or I can just bring a photocopy of it?

I'm completely not sure what the correct form of "or" is here. It's clear that if this were Cantonese, I would use "定係", but this isn't a word in Mandarin, and at least intuitively speaking, I wouldn't use "或者" (at least not without a lot of rephrasing).

Would using "还是" be appropriate (in conveying the same meaning) here?

Translation, with what I believe to be correct.

我需要带 XXX 吗？[...] 还是只要带影印本吗？

But using "还是" at the beginning of the sentence feels slightly awkward, if only since the examples I'd been taught in school involved use of it to express a different option within the same sentence, instead of breaking the options up.